Introduction
Nationalism was the defining feature of the 19th century, especially in Western Europe. The factor that contributed to this rise was the 1815 Congress of Vienna, which redrew the political map of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It resulted in the formation of new states and the modification of borders. In these circumstances, such states as Germany, France, and Italy experienced dramatic changes in the way the state community was organized.
Discussion
The idea that after the fall of absolutist rule, political legitimacy should be derived from people living within the nation-state gained prominence throughout the 19th century. Therefore, inspired by the ideas of belonging, national pride, and purpose, many citizens found it appealing to organize their revolutionary movements to form a coherent nation. This essay aims to discuss why nationalism attracted many people and why these transformations had dangerous consequences. Nationalism was the movement from both elites and the population: the former tried to preserve their geopolitical and imperial power, while people desired to contain their sufferings of the past.
Nation-building was the necessary geopolitical condition for involvement in European political power games of the 19th century. The results of the Napoleonic wars showed that old monarchies and outdated types of empires, which did not have a sense of nationhood, were doomed to fail (Tignor et al., 2017). It was seen that “artificial divisions from feudality, royal marriages, or diplomatic congresses, are unstable” (Tignor et al., 2017, p. 232). At the same time, the formation of nation-states was linked with stability, economic growth, and the rise of geopolitical influence. The causal mechanism here is that cultural homogeneity creates a sense of a common goal. In the previous types of social organization, people were linked to their homeland or feudal, while the sense of nationhood was unfamiliar to them.
The nation-state appealed to people in the 19th century because it also sustained us/ them dichotomy during imperialist expansion, making it easier for rulers to motivate their populations for imperialist competition. Such a line of reasoning is present in Prince Esper Ukhtomskii’s accounts of his journey in Asia. Being a close confidant of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, his position was similar to those of the imperial family. He points to the fact that small nations of Europe, united by common nationality, controlled millions of Asian residents (Ukhtomskii, 1891). For example, the kingdom of Holland colonized extensive territories in the East. As Ukhtomskii (1891) claims, the sense of common identity helped them to be united in their efforts to hold hundreds of millions in economic slavery. In addition, they dehumanized people living in the East, putting their shared culture of “us” against inferior living conditions of “them”.
The last idea why nation-states were so appealing is the sense of solidarity formed by the sentiments of sacrifices of the past years. Such an argument was made by Ernst Renan in his classical text “What is a nation?”. In the 19th century, people experienced the memories of harsh wars, revolutions, and diseases. As Renan noted (1882), “a nation is a living soul, a spiritual principle” (p. 10). The common sorrow that arose after the numerous military clashes of the 18th century, the bloody events of the consequences of revolutions, and deadly diseases, forced people to look for communities that would absorb these sufferings. It was hard to contain this pain in small groups as a family while the nation was big enough to build a coherent national identity. Thus, the nation was attractive not because it united people living on the same ground, but because it provided a spiritual family built on common history’s complexities.
Concerning the dangers of nationalism in Europe in the 19th century, it led to discriminatory attitudes towards migrants from other countries. Indeed, it was evident that populations with common culture may be hostile towards outsiders. It was the case in 19th-century Germany when Poles were represented as a threat to the well-being of Germany (Sassen, 1999). Such a construction of internal enemies happened in Germany against the fact that Poles were not even the majority among foreign workers (Sassen, 1999). A similar situation happened in nationalizing France, where migrants were treated badly and were paid less (Sassen, 1999). Therefore, the fact that these countries were nation-states was at the hardcore of their philosophy that states protect the rights of their citizens, not immigrants. Although these European countries have become democracies with the entrenched rule of law, one may still indicate a violation of immigrants’ human rights today.
Conclusion
To conclude, the nationalism of 19th-century Europe is a crucial phenomenon in world history. Before this, people did not define themselves as French, German, Italian, or English. The past identity was based on tribal and feudal ties, which made huge masses of people divided among each other. The growth of nationalism, in this perspective, can be explained by the desire of political elites to maintain their influence in the international arena through a more efficient organization of society. Likewise, the population was searching for such a unifying force after realizing the magnitude of the suffering brought about by the 18th century. However, nationalism gave rise to many problems that have their place to this day. For example, friend-foe relationships were projected on visiting immigrants from different cultures. This rejection was expressed in discrimination, racism, and exclusion.
References
Rennan, E. (1882). What is a nation? UC Paris. Web.
Sassen, S. (1999). Guests and aliens. New Press.
Tignor, R., Adelman, J., Brown, P., Elman, B., Kotkin, S., Prakash, G., & Tsin, M. (2017). Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Volume 2. WW Norton & Company.
Ukhtomskii, E. (1891). Russia’s imperial destiny. Fordham University History Department. Web.